Friday, April 22, 2016

Violence in Video Games

Video games are violent. Literally undeniable. Here's some evidence..
But here's the rub: Does violence in video games make you violent? I asked 14 classmates what they thought. Here were the responses.

5 said "Yes"
9 said "No"
1 said "Unsure"

As a relitivly stable minded individual who's spent a good portion of his life playing video games I can safely say that I am a highly non-violent person. To me there's a disassociation with reality and fiction that most functioning people posses.

However, does this mean that video games do not cause violence?

Ehh, no.. Video games do have some correlation with school shootings, planned murders, etc. So what's the deal?! Why would a fictitious virtual simulation make you, the player, violent? Well, if you're normal, it shouldn't. Video games many times act as wish fulfillment, breaking the barrier between reality and fiction to give the player unrealistic power or control. Those with extremely low self worth might gravitate towards this enticing prospect but for most the idea of replicating actions performed in a game seems silly. Even with many modern emersive games such as "Skyrim" and "Dark Souls" graphically drawing a thin line between reality and fiction for all except the desperate 1% who have their brains all whacked up. Maybe violent video games can make anyone a killer with constant exposure but I say that video games would be the trigger, not the source.